A Sorcerer's Christmas Story
by Dark Horse Writer
Summary: One would think that a Sorcerer of the 777th degree wouldn't celebrate Christmas, or a nerdy physics student would find the perfect gift for his master, or that Christmas magic still happens in NYC..rated K plus just for a little bit of language. Fluff


**AN: So, I know I am pretty cheesy when it comes to Christmas. I am putting all the New York clichés in here and all regarding Christmas. But, hey I'm not from NYC, and this is how I would spend my time in NYC during the Christmas time. Also, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!**

**Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Sorcerer's Apprentice**_** Disney**** does and so does Jerry Bruckheimer. As well as Nicolas Cage who was the originator and his friend Todd Garner who came up with the idea for the movie. To the writers who wrote the story and the screenwriters: Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, Matt Lopez, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard. I am writing this for fun and no money is being made. **

_**Becky's POV**_

_**December 18, 2010**_

Dave looked at Becky and for whatever reason or another said,

"Becky what do you think I should get Balthazar for Christmas?"

Becky looked at her boyfriend who was wearing his checkered flannels, which were layered with a blue sweater and black jacket that kept him warm during the New York winter. She honestly didn't have a clue what to get Balthazar for Christmas. What did one get for a sorcerer who has seen a lot of the world in over 1300 years and has literally seen the world expand, and to be honest doesn't need anything considering he has the ability to use magic. She shook her head.

"I have no idea Dave, why don't you ask Veronica? Or maybe we could browse and see what we can find." She said knowing that maybe some inspiration would come from just browsing different shops and boutiques.

Her boyfriend lowered his shoulders in acceptance, and grabbed his coat and grabbed hers as well so they could get on their way.

"Well, I guess we better start looking, after all we are kind of pushing it considering this is the last weekend before the holidays. Knowing my mom wants to know exactly _why_ I am not home just yet. I told her I still want to some last minute Christmas shopping." Dave said in his nasally manner. Becky only hoped that they would be able to find something for Dave's master. Or maybe just stick with a card, but she even looked at her boyfriend and knew he wanted to give him something.

As they left Dave's apartment Becky heard a ringing, and Dave lifted his cellphone and saw who was calling. He looked at her and groaned and showed her the number. It was the famed sorcerer himself, but what she didn't understand was why he was calling. She thought Dave had the day off and the 22-27 off for Christmas and to spend time with his family. Plus, Dave told him he needed to do some last minute Christmas shopping, and Balthazar had begrudgingly agreed to let him do what he needed to do. Dave opened his cell and said,

"Hello"

_**Dave's POV**_

"Dave I have a question to ask you, should I bring Veronica to the New York's Philharmonic's _Messiah _or the New York City Ballet's rendition of _The Nutcracker_?"

Of all questions that his master could have asked this one was unexpected? They were both popular events and the tickets were sometimes hard to come by. By the way, didn't Balthazar mentioned that he had heard or seen these things in his long past?

"Dave?" Right he had to give his master an answer. He honestly wasn't into the ballet that much, though Becky told him she saw _The Nutcracker_ when she was little and liked it because of the costumes and the story. She also liked to dance back then and said she wanted to be a prima ballerina. In his experience, he had slept through _The Messiah_ when he saw it with his mother when he was eleven years old. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to be any help.

"What do you think Veronica will like?" That was all he could say. Normally, this question would sound quite, _normal_, for a couple in New York City and hearing it from his master just made it that much more out of place.

"I wanted her to see how much the arts have expanded. I have already seen these two performances, but I wanted your opinion." Dave could see that his master was a little desperate. He really wanted to impress her it seemed. It also seemed Becky was eavesdropping on his phone conversation and whispered into his other ear to say that they should go to _The Nutcracker_. Not a lot of people did _The Nutcracker_ like the New York City Ballet did Becky said to him.

"How about the ballet Balthazar?" He thought he heard a sigh of resignation; could it be that his master wasn't a fan of dance? That line of thinking stopped, when it seemed Dave's answer was given and Dave could hear the unusually cheeriness in Balthazar's voice.

"Thank you Dave, I think the ballet will be perfect," Dave was about to hang up his cellphone when Balthazar said quite quickly,

"Is it possible you and Becky could meet us for lunch and then go to Rockefeller plaza?" Dave dropped his jaw, did he just hear that his master wanted to have lunch with them and go to Rockefeller plaza, which meant one thing during the winter in New York City, ice skating. He groaned. He really wasn't that good at it.

Becky, on the other hand, had a wide smile on her face, and he had the same once he saw her expression. It seemed that maybe his master was getting into the Christmas spirit considering that he was for a few weeks complaining about the commercialism of the holiday, how it's only two days of celebration instead of twelve, and how the meaning of the _true_ holiday has been lost over the past years.

Balthazar told him that Veronica wanted to experience Christmas the New York way, even if it was to do all tourist things that New York City offered during the most wonderful time of the year. Of course he really wanted to go back home to his mom sometime, but somehow the sorcerer, and his wife, were growing on him. If he was going to be honest with himself it all started at _Arcana Cabana_, as wrong as that sounds because of how much troubled it caused him in terms of the embarrassment he suffered. Looking back on it right now didn't matter, he had Becky, Balthazar, Veronica, and of course still his mom.

_**Balthazar's POV**_

As he closed his cellphone, which he regrettably got because he knew it was his best communication with his apprentice, he looked to see if his wife was ready. He knew his wife was still upstairs getting ready for the day. Truth be told, he wasn't going Christmas shopping for his wife, he already had gotten her gift a few weeks before. But today, he was going to get a Christmas gift for his apprentice, while Veronica wanted to get a gift for his apprentice and his girlfriend as well. He thought ruefully, they were like family, or the closest he had for now.

The problem is what to get for his apprentice; he wasn't getting him anything dealing with electronics, music, or anything. He wanted it to be meaningful. The problem as commercialized as the world is now; he wasn't sure what his apprentice would like. Something dealing with physics seemed promising. He already checked through everything he owned if he had any letters that Nikolai Tesla sent him , or any of his original notes (which he would have translated for Dave) he had received from his friend. But, he realized with the closing of his first store they were lost, unless some museum got a hold of them or something. He thought Dave would have liked that, and would have treasured it.

He saw his wife walk down the stairs. He had given her a quick course of the history of the past 1300 years, and was still getting adjusted to it. She was wearing some loose black slacks and was wearing a loose black sweater and dark green scarf. She looked lovely in his eyes and she smiled back. He wanted her to have a very special Christmas and was planning on telling her about _The Nutcracker_ at lunch. Truth be told he got tickets for both events weeks ago, but could not decide which to go to with Veronica. He thought it might be possible to see both with magic, but shook his head he wanted this to be a magical holiday with her, without the literal use of magic that is.

He wanted the city to inspire her. New York City could be a very beautiful (and busy) place during the holidays with the snow, the carolers, the lights, the displays, and the holiday cheer. He called to cancel the concert and decided they could give his pair of tickets to a deserving couple courtesy of an anonymous donor. He was going to see _The Nutcracker_ with his wife on Christmas Eve day at 3 o'clock pm. It seemed the right thing to do with his new wife in the big apple, he had a goofy smile on his face.

People would think for all the years that he had lived and saw the commercialism of the Christmas holiday and prefer not to celebrate it. For years, he didn't. He was too focused on his quest to find the Prime Merlinian, and to be honest it wasn't important to him. Every year he saw how much more commercialized, ridiculous it got with the introduction of the Christmas tree, to lights, to mistletoe, to the gift giving on presents, to forgetting the real reason of the holiday. Even when to be perfectly honest, the birth of Christ was most likely not December 25, it was aligned with an already established pagan holiday. Now, in modern times one didn't have to be a Christian to celebrate the holiday.

But all those thoughts flew out the door when Veronica was standing there and smiling at him. He would have a wonderful Christmas with the woman he loved for over a thousand years, and commercialism be damned he wanted to do this right. Even if it meant doing everything that was cliché during the holiday season.

From seeing _The Nutcracker_ to making cookies (yes he was making cookies for Veronica, because she really couldn't cook to save her life), to watching holiday movies, and maybe even making some eggnog. To making her hot apple cider, to reading all the Christmas stories over time (even the ridiculous notion of Santa Clause, but to be honest if he kept it in perspective it was more of a children's story to begin with), and to the ultimate cliché of all of kissing her under the mistletoe.

He could have slapped himself for how unoriginal he was being. Dave would have called him _sappy_, and to be honest since it was Christmas he wouldn't throw a plasma bolt at the oddly endearing physics nerd that is his apprentice for that notion because he was acting sappy. How could one not when they were with the love of their life?

No one could see Balthazar Blake, sorcerer of the 777th degree being a man who would spend this Christmas holiday in high spirits and cheer. But he would make sure, that no one, would be putting a Santa hat on him that was going a _bit_ too far.

He invited Veronica to hold his hand and she smile warmly at him as she got her coat and he grabbed his leather trench and scarf and headed out to do some last minute Christmas shopping, as well to meet up with Dave and Becky at Rockefeller plaza to ice skate. Yes, he was going to do that too, honestly who wouldn't if you had the chance to do skate in Rockefeller plaza during the holidays in New York City? Well, maybe the people who didn't like to ice skate that is, he just hoped they didn't have the skates with the dreaded toe pick.

_**Dave's POV**_

"So where should we go first?"

Dave looked at his girlfriend, _girlfriend_, how amazingly that felt to roll that word off the tip of his tongue. He still really couldn't believe that after all these years he had met up with the girl he had liked for awhile. Now she was looking cute in her black coat and hat, with slightly waving blonde hair and blue eyes. He was really lucky to have her as his girlfriend. It was an added bonus that she took the magical side of him pretty well too.

Becky smiled back at him and he was racking his head for any different sort of shops, not like the _Arcana Cabana_, but shops that are not as mainstream as say, Macy's. He was pretty sure he would find something off the off beaten track. They were in the Greenwich village area, where there were bound to be quirky shops and stores. Becky loomed over the different record stores and looked at the old LP's.

It was pretty cool, and he saw some old _Beatle_ LP's that Becky was looking over. The one she was looking at was _Abbey Road_, when she wasn't looking he got it for her, and without anyone looking shrunk it so he could put it in his bag. He had an afterthought as to why the record was so expensive, and was going to look at it again but saw Becky come his way. Becky quirked her eyebrow at him and he had the expression on his face that said what? She shook her head at him.

Becky was easy to shop for; she loved music, so anything dealing with music would make her happy, especially old LP's. She told him that she collected LP's and for one reason or another didn't have any _Beatles_ LP's. He would rectify that. He wanted to make sure he still had some money left, and he did. He had a position as a work-study scholar for his professor and he paid him for his help, quite well considering the economy and all.

They went outside the record shop and felt the icy chill of the wind and brought their coats closer to them. They held each other for warmth and went past the local church where they could overheard the children's choir practicing _Silent Night_, there was a light snow fall just enough to make it magical and he saw Becky open her mouth to catch a snowflake on her tongue. He did it too. Just spending some time with her made him happy.

They passed a few store fronts until one caught his eye, it was a bookstore called:

"Medieval Books: Antique and hard to find novels, books, stories, and legends"

Becky looked at him and quirked his eyebrow and he did as well. The sign was pretty cheesy with a knight and castle and cheesy medieval calligraphy, and Dave knew the time period was really out of place, but a bookshop wouldn't be a bad place to start to find a gift for his master. After all, he always had a book of some kind, besides the _Encantus_, with him during training.

He and Becky entered the store and saw a large amount of leather bound volumes. Some were kept in cases, while others were on tables with table clothes. These books looked fairly old, and some in the cases looked like they were about to fall apart. He saw that they had an original copy of _Alice in Wonderland_ and others. Becky was perusing the different volumes and Dave saw in the case an untitled work. The shopkeeper, an elderly man came to see what he was looking at.

"That, my dear boy is the oldest book I have. There is no author to this book. I had a historian look at this and she said it was most likely written in the 700's. Things were never written down back then, and this was such a surprise to find. The thing is in front here is translated to modern English. Some of this is day to day things, but some talks about magic and the practice of it. Which is quite intriguing if I do say so myself, considering there really isn't such a thing. I was reading and thought it was a journal of some kind. Though there is one name that pops up a lot, a lover I suppose. Dave looked at the English translation that was out of the case,

"Today has been incredibly taxing, though my brother in all but blood is by my side, and my love next to me. Things are not all so well. Tonight she told me that she always wanted to be normal, not to fight in all this bloodshed. Tomorrow, we were going to go to the market to pick up supplies and knowing that my love's object of her affections will be there. A necklace."

The shopkeeper had a wide gap grin on his face. Dave read that passage and he thought, the possibility seemed very slim, but he read the translation and asked if this was a good one. The shopkeeper with his grey hair said he did it himself and thought himself a scholar in Old English. There was some Latin in here too, especially the love poems about the girl, whose name was never given it seems. Dave had his thoughts, but thought this was too close to impossible, but he was going to go for it.

"How much for this sir?" The shop owner quirked his eyebrow.

"I'm sorry sonny, this isn't for sale." He had to slump his shoulders and he saw that Becky was reading the English translation and her eyebrows furrowed with a questioning glance. He had his thoughts about who might have written this, even if it was a long shot. The shop owner however saw his face of dejection and said,

"Hey kiddo, who were you going to get the book for anyways, even _if_ I did sell it?" Dave looked at him and said,

"A friend of mine who has the taste for the unusual and a penchant for history, he's the kind of guy who is hard to get a gift for." Dave said. He saw the man nod his head up and down. Becky and Dave thanked him for showing him the book and stuff and were about to leave when the unexpected happen.

"Hey I could tell that getting this would mean a lot to you and your friend. This was my find and I put it in my owner's collection, however you can have it."

Dave dropped his jaw and he was going to ask knowing it was going to be outrageous, but what surprised him however was that the man would give it for him for free. He took it out of the case and place some protective material and gave him a nice looking wooden box with satin in it (Dave said he would pay for the box, the owner said it normally went for over four hundred dollars, and Dave paled, but the shopkeeper said he would give it to him for a hundred if he could afford that. Dave said yes). So, he brought the box and put the book into it. Dave had a pretty good idea of who wrote this, and he hoped he was right.

Dave asked him where he got the book from, he said to be honest he was on a trip to England and got it from a man back after the war. He was told it was found in a large estate, and the owner of the estate said that it was left there that some gentleman had come and disappeared before he could give it back. The shopkeeper said he was pretty lucky to have something so old, because no one wrote during that time expect that one journal it seemed, which was surprising and Dave looked at the cover closely he thought he could make out a B.B on it. He smiled.

Becky asked him if he knew who wrote it and showed her what he saw, she looked at him and then she gave him a wide smile. Dave was pretty sure this would be a good Christmas present, he was pretty sure his master would be happy to see this.

**Balthazar's POV**

_On the other hand_…

He had gone through varying amounts of shops and boutiques from book stores, to some science stores (which had nothing but the cheesy butterfly gardens and cheap telescopes). The bookstores he went to had all the books Dave already had famous physicians and the like. He was about to give up and maybe give Dave a more comfortable pair of shoes for sorcery, even though the ones he had already were fine when an idea suddenly came to him. He remembered having a talk with Dave during one of their sessions, and how Dave said he never had been outside North America. He had confided in him that the first place he would want to see is England, not because they spoke English, but the fact is he wanted to see (or what was left of it) where Balthazar had grown up and trained to become a sorcerer. He was touched, and had buried the idea of maybe sometime showing Dave just that. He couldn't think of a perfect time.

Veronica looked at her love with renewed interest as they were in a bookstore, when her husband went to the 'Travel' section. He looked at books for England and grabbed a _Frommer's_ Guide and a _Britain_ _by Rail_ guide, as well as a _Zagat Guide_ to London. Veronica looked at her husband with a questioning glance in her eye. She wasn't sure what he was planning, but he had a smile on his face. He said to her,

"I know what I am going to get for Dave." He said. He saw his wife was pretty sure of the blaringly obvious that he was getting three travel books dealing with England, Scotland, and Wales. He was going to put together a trip Dave would never forget and make his first experience abroad a great one. Even though he had travelled, he knew what it was like to look at a new place and the wonders that never ceased. America had done the same to him when he had come the first time, and travelled through and came back to New York City. Of course Salem witch trials and Abigail Williams all aside.

He was going to make the trip over Dave's spring break, and he knew Dave didn't have anything planned, he also thought it might be a good idea to include Becky too. He and Veronica went down to a travel agent and he told them what he wanted to do. The agent, a Mr. Riley, was all too happy to comply and got them four first class tickets to London Heathrow, some rail passes to be used over the course of two weeks. A weekend in Paris because that is a pretty easy weekend trip to do. Hotels, inns, and a cottage (for showing Dave where he grew up, it was in a fairly rural place) were booked in a matter of a little over an hour.

By the time they left, Balthazar had a trip for England planned where Dave, Becky, Veronica, and himself would be going. Veronica had a smile on her face, and he did as well. He was pretty sure Dave would like this…a lot. He had to hold back a chuckle.

He looked at his watch and realized they had to meet up with Dave and Becky at Rockefeller plaza he looked up some good restaurants earlier and made a reservation at _Bar Americain_. A little pricey yes, but this would a holiday brunch for the four of them. As he promised himself, he was going to give Veronica an amazing first Christmas in the city. He had asked for a private booth, and they owner said they could do that. They took the subway to where they needed to go, and he texted Dave the address of the restaurant.

_**Dave's POV**_

When Dave checked his phone and saw the address and the name of the restaurant his eyes bulged, he had heard of that place being pretty good (and pricey for a college student's budget), but he knew his master was up to something. Becky looked at him and he showed her the text and shook her shoulders they were a little bit farther, but took the subway and walked to the address and saw Balthazar and Veronica with shopping bags and all. Dave had used magic to shrink his gift to put in into his bag. He wasn't sure if his master would be happy about that, but at this point he didn't want to spoil the surprise and just thought what did his master have up his sleeve.

They were brought to a little out of the way booth and the menus were given. Tea was ordered as well as bottled _Perrier_ water. Dave had asked for a sprite and Becky was just fine with tea. The talk went from the madness of shopping last minute, to how the city looked. Veronica commented on the window fronts of the larger department stores such as _Sax's Fifth Avenue_. Balthazar had surprised Veronica with tickets to _The Nutcracker_ and she was fairly excited knowing she had heard what ballet was, but never saw a production.

Dave could see his master's face had a wide grin on his face. It even seemed that Dave would have the whole week off, and no lessons. This was surprise for him, he had thought from the 22-26, but he was happy. Some more time to spend with Becky and his mother.

Veronica talked of her experiences to when she was in the larger department stores and how people wanted her to try on different things, and Balthazar knowing she was a little overwhelmed led her away. The conversation went to how they did on their finals, and of course Dave did well in all his classes and Becky as well. Even her grade in physics was raised, thanks to Dave's help. The talk was cheery and entrees were ordered. Becky ordered the open faced omelet; Veronica ordered the same thing because it sounded good. Balthazar ordered the Burger Amercain, and he ordered the chicken pot pie.

As they waited for their meals, the talk was joyous and lighthearted. For all what had happened within the last few months it seemed time was lifted from Balthazar's shoulders as Veronica divulged tales from their childhood (even including Balthazar not liking his "old man shoes") Dave had to hold back a chuckle, and Balthazar gave him the death glare, but his wife glared at him and he waivered.

_Andrea Bocelli_ Christmas music could be heard in the background as the tea was refilled and stories of past and present were told. Dave had never seen his master as happy as he did now, maybe somehow in over 1300 years having his love of his life back and joined in the company of people he considered family made him feel like _he could have a happily ever after_. Even when every other day he told Dave how much _Disney_ got it wrong, you wouldn't know it from looking at this scene.

Their meals came and the food and company were good. It seemed that Dave as he ate his chicken pot pie (which was decisively hot, he had to put some ice cubes in it to cool it down) and his master eat his burger that for all the sternness his master had and pessimism, he saw a look he was pretty sure he hadn't seen ever and that was one of genuine warmth. Sure, he knew his master could be nice to him and did care, but to actually be happy 100% on the inside, not just on the outside, was a fairly rare occurrence when it came to his master.

From what he heard all the food was good and he wasn't sure if he would have room for anymore. It seemed that Balthazar thought sharing deserts would be a good idea, and he had to agree. After Dave knowing he didn't have a glucose imbalance (and he knew that all along) he was allowed to have sugar again, but besides having Mountain Dew didn't have it that much. Becky and him decided to have the Granny Smith apple tart, where it seemed Balthazar and Veronica were going to have the deep dish chocolate pie (Veronica it seemed had a sweet tooth for chocolate, and thank goodness she wasn't allergic).

The desserts were good, and Becky loved the Granny smith apple tart. I smiled at her and her at me. Across from us it seemed that Balthazar and Veronica were still working on the deep chocolate pie, which was a pretty fair size. But Dave could see that they were deeply enjoying it. As soon as he knew it they finished their desert finished their tea, water, and Sprite in his case. Becky and he thanked Balthazar for such a nice lunch and he was happy for it. The waiter saw that he had gotten a pretty good tip. Dave knew that Balthazar had the Christmas bug, not to say he was a Scrooge or anything, but Dave had the idea that sometime, a long time ago that Christmas was a favorite holiday of Balthazar's.

They had walked to Rockefeller Center and people watched while they waited for their rather large meal to digest. It was a little chilly out, but nothing out of the ordinary. Dave saw young kids struggle to skate, while younger couples skated with a practiced ease. Balthazar and Veronica were watching a family of four with a mother and father helping their kids to skate.

Dave had the idea that Balthazar and Veronica really wanted to have kids, and to be completely honest he knew Balthazar would be a great father. Especially when he saw the one father lift his youngest daughter so she could sit on his shoulders, she gave a big toothy smile that only a little kid could give.

Dave had an ounce of fear that something would happen like Horvath would come out of nowhere and destroy everything. Of course this fear was unfounded because even if Horvath did, he didn't have his cane that was now at Balthazar's store, under reinforced wards, so that no one, but Balthazar and Veronica, or he could get to it.

He saw that Becky look towards the rink. As cheesy as it was to just skate in a circle he saw that it lit up Becky's eyes. Okay, he would skate even thought he wasn't really good at it.

He also saw that Balthazar and Veronica were going skate as well; this was going to be interesting. He was sure that Balthazar would be able to skate fairly well, but Veronica? He wasn't sure.

They rented the skates and he already felt awkward, he removed the skate guards and Becky already had her laced and ready to go. They only had figure skates. Great. He might have been okay with hockey skates, but no he had to get the kind with the toe pick. Becky looked at him.

"Are you ready?" He nodded his head to Becky's question.

"As ready as I will ever be." He said. He stepped on the ice and knew this was going to be bad.

_**Balthazar's POV**_

As he looked at the family of four he could feel Veronica's arms wrap around him and leaned into him.

"I would like that for Christmas Balthazar." Her crisp accent said. Balthazar looked back to her.

"What the overly large Christmas tree because you know…" She lightly smacked her husband.

"No silly, I would to have a family, or more importantly to have a child." She said. He looked at her. They had talked about having a family, more than having his protégé turned adopted son, and his girlfriend. He wanted to have a daughter or son to call his own, and as he looked in Veronica's eyes he knew that he wouldn't be able to give her one right now, but…he saw Veronica tugging him along to skate.

Truth be told he wasn't really a big fan of skating on ice, but Veronica had asked what to people do in the city during the holidays and he had opened his big mouth and say that a lot of people come down to Rockefeller center to skate. He helped her put on her skates as well to explain to her how to skate.

Not that he needed to remind her; long before they had rinks like this when they were younger they made their own skates to use on the ice when the ponds around the keep froze over. Only, these were a little bit more durable and looked at his. Great, these had the dreaded toe pick. Even back in the days long past never made a skate with a toe pick, despite the fact that they are supposed to help you stop.

As she got up she wobbled for a bit and he had her, but she soon found her balance and they entered the rink. He entered with practiced ease and Veronica as well she glided along the ice. She smiled at him and he smiled back. He saw that Dave and Becky were a little ahead, and his apprentice was having a bit of trouble finding his balance. Becky was trying to help him, and was doing a good job. That is until…

Dave slipped and his bum found the ice, he had to hold back a yikes. That would hurt. Veronica saw this as well and glided to where Dave was. He followed her where he saw his apprentice on his bum sitting on the ice with crossed hands and huffing with a pout on his face. He would have laughed and how absurd this picture was, but he came down pretty hard he wanted to make sure his apprentice was okay.

Dave saw him and groaned and his cheeks flushed. Obviously this was a little embarrassing he pulled him up and helped him find his balance.

"Not much of a skater Dave?" He wouldn't add salt to the wound and hold back an amused look. He could see he was rubbing the sore area. That had to hurt.

"Not really. I did this more for Becky." Dave gave a sheepish look towards her girlfriend who had this look of appreciation and concern in his eyes.

"You know your balance was off," Balthazar regarded his young apprentice.

"I think that was quite obvious Balthazar." Dave said as he held back a huff.

Balthazar regarded that Becky was helping Dave stay where he was and looked down to his ankles they were rolled in a little more than necessary no wonder he lost his balance.

"Hey Dave, roll your heels a little outward that should help with the balance issue while you skate. And keep a more even pacing when you glide." He showed Dave what he meant as he kept his ankles a little more vertical as he skated and took a step and glided a few inches before he took another step. Dave seemed to pick up because it was working. He smiled and it seemed that Dave was still holding Becky's hand while they skated, but were also having fun at the same time.

He and Veronica went slow and study and just enjoyed each other's company and looked around the rink where some boys wanted to pretend to be like that one speed skater Dave told him about an Apollo Anton Ono or something like that. Not that he really cared because it was good to be close to his Veronica. He saw that Dave was happy to be close to Becky as well. He had to keep a smile back.

After a few more rounds they pair of them were a little exhausted and saw that they should get back and get ready for the ballet as well as have some dinner. He saw that Dave and Becky had gotten a hot beverage, from what he believed to be the _Starbuck's_ cardboard cups. He told Dave and Becky that they had to head back to the store to wrap some gifts. They were okay with that and thanked him for the great time this afternoon. He saw, that Dave was not rubbing his sore spot as much. He saw that he had his ring on and shook his head, he didn't blame him.

He said his goodbyes and Dave wished him a happy holidays and he did as well. Though he told him, if he wanted to, not that he was requiring him or anything, but he would understand if he didn't that he was welcome to come to the _Arcana Cabana_ on Christmas day. Dave said he would think about it. He would understand if he wanted to spend some more time with his mother, and he probably should.

They walked off and Veronica smiled at him. He had a good day today, and smiled at how Veronica would react to her Christmas gift from him, and how Dave would react, as well as Becky, to his gift to Dave.

_**Dave's POV**_

His bottom would be sore and probably hate him forever, but he would say that he was glad he went skating with Becky she had enjoyed it and he admittedly had some fun in the end. Of course, it was getting a little chilly and Dave asked Becky how some coffee or hot chocolate sounded. They saw that inside the Starbucks it was crowded, but they waited it out and got some peppermint hot chocolate (with whip cream) to go.

They watched the sorcerer pair gliding across the ice, and Becky smiled. For his master who was usually so stern, serious, and rarely smiled at times to see him with his wife glide and laugh in each other's company was a site to behold. Christmas time did his master a world of good and he could not wait to give him his gift on Christmas.

_**On Christmas Day…**_

"Honey wake up Merry Christmas!" Dave woke up with a start and saw that he was in his old room at his mother's house and tank was lying on him.

"Merry Christmas beautiful" and he hopped out of his bed and grabbed his robe. He had Becky's and Balthazar's and Veronica's gift (he ended forgetting to get her a gift and how could he forget and had asked Becky what would a woman like her want. He decided to get her another scarf. He originally thought about getting her a _Burberry_ scarf, but decided against it and went back to Greenwich village and got a really cool, funky scarf with different colors and kind of an old world flair to it. Besides it wasn't two hundred dollars like the one at _Burberry_ was.

He looked down and saw his smiling mother with dark hair like his and a slender frame. She was standing beside their little four foot tree with all the old ornaments. It was just the two of them since his dad died when he was six. He watched his mother open his present from him which was a pair of amethyst earrings. He had gotten them from the jewelry exchange and his mother loved amethysts in general. He saw that there was a gift for Tank and helped Tank open it up, it was his favorite biscuits, and Tank looked extremely happy.

His mother handed him his gift and even though he didn't ask for anything he opened it up to find two checkered flannel shirts that were not torn like a lot of his were (courtesy of plasma bolts from Balthazar). His mother also handed him another gift and saw that it was from CERN. Apparently, a friend of hers went to France and took a tour of CERN. There was a photo album with all the pictures and postcard of the collider that circled between France and Switzerland. There was also a shirt with the CERN emblem on it. That was pretty wicked. He thanked his mom profusely and gave his mother a second gift.

As Balthazar was reorganizing his store he had found an old leather book with blank pages and asked Balthazar if it had any special meaning or magic. Balthazar replied it was just an old, leather journal nothing magical about it and asked if he could have it. Balthazar let him. His mother said to him she needed a new journal. He gave it to her, and she loved it. She had an eye for antiquities and told him that this must have cost him a fortune. He blushed and told him the owner gave it to him for free. She shook her head.

His mother made a huge breakfast with sliced grapefruit, special eggs that were slow cooked and wonderful, bacon, sausage, and sourdough toast (his mother had a friend from San Francisco who sent them Sourdough every year as a Christmas gift) and raspberry jam. His mother asked him how school was going and how things between him and Becky were. He realized that he was speed eating because he wanted to take up Balthazar's offer and go to the _Arcana Cabana_.

His mother saw that he was eating fast and asked why. He looked a little guilty and told his mother that Becky and him were asked by some friends if they wanted to come over Christmas day, his mother looked at him not with hurt but said it was fine considering she had friends who were coming over to the house and were going to do their annual marathon of watching _A Christmas Story_, _White Christmas_, _It's A Wonderful Life_, and recently added _Elf_. He shook his head; he had watched those movies too many times to count. Not that he didn't like them, but one wasn't sure how many times he could see the pitiful picture of a young boy in a pink bunny suit.

He collected his gifts and put them in a large paper bag and called Becky she was on her way to the _Arcana Cabana_. They saw each other on Christmas Eve and planned to get there a little bit before one in the afternoon. As he walked up to the _Arcana_ there was a wreath on the door that was not there before. Becky was there in a red coat, black pants, and had a cute Santa hat on her head. She also had a bag of gifts in her hand and he put down his bag.

"Merry Christmas Becky!" He hugged her while Becky said,

"Merry Christmas Dave!" He heard her and smiled.

"Merry Christmas to the both of you." They both turned to see Veronica standing outside and as they gathered their gifts Veronica's eyebrows lifted. They went inside to find that the _Arcana Cabana_ was a little more decorated with holly, there was even some mistletoe. Dave saw a plate of cookies. Cookies? He saw that there were ginger cookies, sugar cookies with cutouts of trees, ornaments, and even a few Santas. Then there were some gingerbread men. Dave saw they were decorated and one of them looked exactly like him. A ginger Dave what did you know, but then saw another one that looked like Veronica, as well as Becky, and even a Balthazar one. He looked up to see his master was wearing black pants, a murky grey tunic, but covered with a dark green vest.

"Merry Christmas Dave." He said and Dave still looked at the cookies, when Becky came to his side and saw the cookies she had to hold back a laugh at the Ginger Dave. Balthazar had a rueful grin,

"It was Veronica's idea." Dave nodded his hand keeping the smile on his face. He noticed that Becky didn't have her Santa hat on her and saw that Veronica was being extremely sneaky and placed Becky's hat on her husband's head very lightly. He then asked,

"Where's Veronica?" Dave was trying to hold in his giggles, but Becky was failing miserable as her guffaws could be heard and took out her cellphone and took a picture. Balthazar was stunned and then felt on top of his head and found the offending object that was a red and white hat, and he turned around to see Veronica laughing.

"VERONICA!" Balthazar snarled. He saw his master was going after his wife.

Dave laughed so hard that it hurt and even though he knew Balthazar was pretty mad, he saw that Becky had a blackmail photo. Oh, this was a wonderful Christmas.

Veronica looked up with a sheepish grin and try as he might to be angry at her he couldn't. Dave saw that there was a plasma bolt starting to form in his hand, but it died as he let his anger fade. It was Christmas, and even Balthazar Blake knew when to pick his fights. Dave swore he saw a ghost of a smile appear.

They sat around a table, where a small Christmas tree was. Not very ornate, just a green tree with a gold start and a few ornaments on it. Dave decided to hand his gift to Becky, and Veronica gave a gift to Becky as well. He opened his first and saw _Abbey Road_ original LP and squealed and hugged Dave harder than he thought imaginable. He heard Balthazar give a low whistle because Dave did not notice on the back there was a signature of each of the four Beatle's themselves. That was why it seemed so expensive. Balthazar gave him a pat on the back.

"That's not easy to find these days."

He didn't know, but hey at least Becky liked it. She got a purple cashmere sweater from Veronica. Becky wanted him to feel it, it was really, really soft and she tried it on. It looked great on her. He then saw Veronica give him a gift as well. He looked at her with a question in his eyes and she motioned for him to open it.

What he found was a leather bomb style jacket in a brown color. It was pretty cool, he looked at Balthazar who shrugged his shoulders as in saying that she thought he would like it. At least it was a regular styled leather jacket, wouldn't it been ironic if he got a long black duster like his master. That would have been weird. He tried it on. It fit him perfectly and he liked it a lot. Before now he would have never thought about getting a leather jacket, but it seemed that he could still be surprised on Christmas. Becky seemed to appreciate it too.

He gave his gift to Veronica, and she smiled when she opened and found another scarf. It has hints of blues, purples, reds, oranges, and it looked really astounding on her. Balthazar grinned and told him that he sure knew what to get for his wife. His cheeks flushed a little red, and he explained the woman at the store helped him a lot to find the perfect scarf. He then handed Balthazar his gift and he was about to say he didn't want it, but Dave said he should go ahead and open it.

When he opened his gift his eyes furrowed over the wooden box, which had a lot of intricate carvings in it. Dave asked him to open the box and as he did he looked in and Dave saw that his jaw drop. He took out the book and looked at the protective coverings and opened it gently and had a faraway look in his eye. Veronica leaned in and she had to mask her shock. When he put the book back in the box Balthazar looked at him,

"How?" His question was faint and Dave could see his eyes had a faraway look in them. He explained the bookstore he went into and how the book was found from this large estate in Britain. As he was telling this story he saw that Balthazar was shaking his head and said,

"Dave do you know what this is?" Dave told him his suspicions that it was his from the little blurb of a translation in English from the store. Balthazar told him that was exactly what he thought it was. It was his journal that he had since he was a much younger man in the days of Merlin's apprenticeship and had gotten it from Merlin during this time of year when instead of Christmas was the feast of the birth of Christ. But, he wouldn't get into details like that.

He liked to write, once he learned how to, and had always written at least once in there each day. He thought he misplaced it during his travels or fights with Morganians and never thought he would see it again. He got up from his seat and clapped Dave on the back and hugged him, this was pretty unusual for his master. Dave had to blink because he thought he saw some tears forming in his master's eyes, but he saw that his master was blinking them away. He stepped back and said,

"Thank you Dave." Dave gave Balthazar a welcome, and as Balthazar was looking through the book, Veronica came out with some hot apple spiced cider. Dave took a mug and sipped it. It was the perfect temperature and was really good. Veronica said that Balthazar had made it himself, considering she wasn't much of a chef.

He saw that Balthazar had given Veronica a small envelope and she opened and read its contents and had a huge smile and hugged her husband. She seemed quite happy, and Dave was curious and asked if he could see it. Veronica said she would tell him later, and for now that worked for him. He smiled, he saw that Balthazar put the book back in the box and grabbed a wrapped gift and handed it to him. He had to blink back his eyes. His master had gotten a gift for Christmas? Now he had seen everything.

"Open it Dave." That sounded like an order, not like a suggestion and he did so. He found three guidebooks to England and had to raise his eyebrows. He also saw a manila folder and pulled out two rail passes, some conformation numbers for a flight (in First class) via _United Airlines_ to London Heathrow during his Spring Break, there were two tickets and one titled to Dave and the other for Becky. No..

"Balthazar you didn't?" Dave said. He realized his voice was a little high in pitch. His master had an amused look on his face.

Balthazar explained that he thought about what gifts to get him, but thought this would be a good one. After all, he did mention that he wanted to see England some time, when he had the money. Becky looked on as well and couldn't believe herself. Dave looked and there was a map with circles around different cities and Balthazar explained where he had planned the trip and how it sounded. Dave was still in utter awe, he said it sounded amazing and could not wait till his Spring Break. He looked through the guidebooks and saw the pictures of the Canterbury Cathedral, The Pavilion at Brighton, Buckingham Palace, and the Beef Eaters at the Tower of London. He thanked Balthazar (and Veronica) profusely.

Balthazar had also gotten a smaller gift that was for his mom. He raised his eyebrows.

"Balthazar you didn't have to get anything for my mom." He shrugged his shoulders and told him that she might like these. He gave his master a weird glance. He only talked about his mom a few times in front of his master and mentioned she was originally from San Francisco and for some reason really liked Ghirardelli milk chocolate. He also told him that his mother shared Veronica's name, not that was weird or anything. He had been a little shocked, and ended training early that day. But Dave took it at face value.

He thanked Balthazar and Veronica for everything (and took some cookies, as well as a Ginger Dave) with him. He said goodbye to Becky as she needed to depart back home. He had his bag with Balthazar gift as well as Becky's (who handed him his gift after he handed hers. It was a CD she made for his Tesla coils. He thanked her for it). He was wearing the leather jacket because it wasn't snowing outside or anything. He hummed "Save the children" on the subway back home and had the gift for his mother from Balthazar in his hand. The cookies were in the bag as well. When he got back home he saw that they were watching _A Christmas Story_ and were at the part where the little boy is wearing the pink bunny suit, everyone heard him come him. His mother's friend Barbara, whose son was in the army serving in Afghanistan, and hugged her,

"Merry Christmas Dave! I heard you were off at your girlfriends and other friends! What you got there sweetie?" He knew Barbara was talkative, but friendly. She was rather stout and plump woman with graying hair.

"Whoa, handsome where did you get the leather jacket!" That was Kendra, his mother's co-worker at the school she worked at. She was looking at the jacket he got from Veronica.

"Uh friend who thought I might like one?" He said a little sheepishly. Kendra clucked her tongue.

"Someone with exquisite taste that is. Veronica you better get in here your boy might be wearing something designer!" He said his merry Christmas to Kendra who was a tall woman with brown hair and rather thin. She was the chic one of the group, but his mother came in and gave him a once over.

"Well someone had a good Christmas. Did Becky give you the jacket?" He hugged his mom and told her it was another friend of his and told his mom that he wouldn't be here for Spring Break. His mother quirked her eyebrows.

"Why's that sweetie? Spring break is a few months away." His mother asked him.

He got into his bag and showed his mom that his friend (meaning Balthazar) gave him a trip to England for two weeks. When her friends overheard they whistled and when his mother saw the first class ticket. She looked up at him.

"Dave, _who_ are these other friends of yours? I know most friends of mine could and would never spend that much on a Christmas gift for one person. A two week trip honey in first class? I'm sorry Dave I think you are going to have to ask him to cancel." Well his mother did have some good advice, but the problem was how to explain this to her how it looked like.

"Look he put a lot of effort into planning the trip, and he's trustworthy mom. It isn't like he is a mobster or anything. He even got a ticket for Becky." At this he heard some low whistles and some chatter from the peanut gallery, but then that is when Dave remembered Balthazar's gift for her and brought it from the living room.

"He even thought of you, mom, even though you never met him." At this her friends hushed as Dave gave her the package. He knew this looked pretty weird, but when his mother unwrapped the gift she gasped. And Dave looked at it. It was her favorite chocolate in the world: milk chocolate from Ghirardelli. There were a few bars. Even though you could get Ghirardelli in New York, this was a special edition only made in the San Francisco Bay Area. It wasn't just milk chocolate, but dark and special flavors like hazelnut and peppermint as well.

Dave thought this wasn't such a big deal, he probably heard the fact that his mom loved their chocolate and ordered some. But there was a slip of paper in her hand and she read it. Dave really hoped he didn't put his name on it.

He looked at his mother and she had a faraway look in her eyes and looked at the note and her son. She shook her head. She put down the chocolate bars and hugged Dave.

"Your friend is very kind did you know that Dave?" This was weird.

"Uh yeah I did. He is isn't he?" He saw in his mother's eyes some small tears and was holding back not a sob, but a laugh. Dave knew that he had a pretty good Christmas, but he wouldn't learn of his mother's reaction until she told him that he had met his master back in 1965 at a Ghirardelli stand. Dave would be floored when he heard this news, and thought that fate is a really funny thing. But that is besides that point, Dave would remember this Christmas for a very, very long time.

**AN: Thank you to Jaselin, or Phantom-Jaselin on DA for a few…ideas for this story (concerning Ginger Dave, the leather bomber style jacket, and the Santa hat (even though to start with the comment was mine to begin with). Also, the chocolate story is in "Endless Search" the chapter I wrote in it. I hope this was a fun piece to read and got everyone into the holiday spirit. Please review and happy Holidays to all of you! Merry Christmas! Happy Chanukah! (Even though it is passed) Happy Winter Solstice! Happy Kwanzaa! **


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